This tool supports managing rpm packaging (spec files and patches) from a git tree.

Normal Operation

New release of a working package that needs a patch? use --rel:

• Commit your changes/patches
• git pkg --rel=<Ver>
• edit the .changes file
• git push --tags origin master pkg-mer

Want to work on the packaging?

• cd rpm
• hack on the packaging

Want a local verify build?

• mb2 build

Need to setup a new package?

• Clone upstream
• Find the right tag (see if a pristine-tar should also be used)
• Got some good packaging from OBS?
• git pkg --pkgdir=<good packaging> --base-on=RELEASE_0_9_7 --ver=0.9.7-1

otherwise:

• git pkg --manual --pkgdir=<rough packaging> --ver=0.9.7-1

New upstream version? use --ver:

• Checkout the mer-master branch or pull the upstream and tags
• use mb2 until it builds
• git pkg --ver=<release-tag>
• git push --tags origin master pkg-mer

Basically git pkg --ver and --rel manage Version: and Release: --pkg-dir is for setting up new package repositories.

Why is it needed?

The rpm packaging used in Mer and derived products consists of a tarball and some packaging files. These packages need to be change controlled and that is where gitpkg comes in.

Currently for Mer Core the raw tarball, patches and packaging files are stored in git.

This leads to:

• Inefficient storage: git is not designed to store large binaries efficiently
• Opacity: files in the tarball cannot be examined without extracting and unpacking
• Dissociation: the upstream change history is lost

So clearly the main objectives are:

• Increase storage efficiency
• Reduce opacity (increase transparency)
• Retain association with upstream

Other objectives:

• Maintain or improve RE efficiency
• Obviousness - eg "git checkout master" should have me ready to hack

For a distro/product there are 2 types of package:

• Native packages are developed directly for/in the distro or product (no patches!)
• Upstream packages are developed elsewhere, and may contain additional patches for the product

gitpkg is useful for both upstream and native packages and ensures that packaging is kept distinct from the code.

The tool assumes that OBS is not being used as the primary store for code and packaging and that vanilla rpm/tarball+spec is the basic build source.

What does it do?

There are a few main use cases:

• Setup a new package from git and (possibly pre-existing) packaging
• Add/modify a patch and update packaging
• New upstream release and update packaging
• Create tarball, spec and patches for building/uploading to OBS

Using gp_setup

This can be used to simply create a suitable packaging branch or to import existing packaging.

Worked Example: Importing oprofile

Upstream uses git so we'll use --base-on to base off it after cloning it:

git clone git://oprofile.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/oprofile/oprofile
cd oprofile

Determine the tag and verify if a pristine-tar should also be used (eg for autogen.sh)

We have some packaging so check it out (in a different window):

osc co Project:KDE:Mer_Extras oprofile

so we can use --pkg-dir

Looking at the tarball that is released we see there are changes to the git tree (autogen.sh etc) so we'll use --pristine.

The release tag is "RELEASE_0_9_7" so that will be the --base-on value; since this isn't a simple version we need to specify --rel=0.9.7-1

The command then is:

git pkg  --pristine --base-on=RELEASE_0_9_7 --ver=0.9.7-1 \
         --pkgdir=/mer/obs/cobs/Project:KDE:Mer_Extras/oprofile \

More examples:

Project with an upstream git and some existing packaging:

git clone upstream
git pkg --base-on=v3.1.7 --pkgdir=/mer/obs/cobs/Mer:Tools:Testing/pciutils/ --ver=3.1.7-3

Project with no upstream git a pristine tar and some existing packaging but no patches (using sudo as an example):

git pkg --pristine --unpack-to=1.8.2 --pkgdir=/mer/obs/cobs/Mer:Tools:Testing/sudo

Git Names and branch layouts

ver is X.Y.Z and is conceptually an upstream version and ideally a tag.

Releases are identified as X.Y.Z-R

branch names:

• master
• mer-master
• pkg-mer

tag formats:

• <base>
• mer-<ver>-<rel>
• pkg-mer-<ver>-<rel>

upstream/master

upstream or master branch (can be anything - often a specific branch with rc releases eg in rpm or OBS)

mer-master

This is the patch branch; it is a branch per upstream release which splits from the upstream at the 'base' tag and contains distro specific patches. It is rebased for each upstream release. This branch contains the code used by the packaging.

Tags here will be of the form mer-<ver>-<rel>

Tags are made on here to preserve commits and the branch may be re-based if needed (eg if a patch is removed between -1 and -2 releases)

If using pristine-tar then the initial commit is the pristine-tar delta and is not applied as a patch - it's simply there to allow development patches apply cleanly to the tarball.

pkg-mer

Discrete commit tree holding any packaging. Tags of pkg-mer-<ver>-<rel>

Git support for multiple sources is possible but more complex

The _src file

This file defines the src needed for building a package. It supports:

• Single tarball
• Patches
• Multiple tarballs (yes, kinda, see obs-server)

One line:

• git:<tarball>:<commit1>:<commit2>
• pristine-tar:<tarball>:<commit1>:<commit2>
• Future? Blob : if needed, just store the raw file in a commit

git:<filename>:<commit1>[:<commit2>]

<filename> is created in the current directory from git archive at <commit1> patches for commits from <commit1> to <commit2> are placed in files according to git-patch Note that the <commit>s can be tags, branches or sha1s - anything git uses.

pristine-tar:<filename>[:<commit1>:<commit2>] <filename> is extracted

from pristine-tar <commit1> represents the closest point on the upstream branch to the pristine tar. At this point there's a mer branch. The first commit is a simple patch of any files added, modified or removed to make the released tarball. Subsequent patches are Mer's Patches for commits from <commit1> to <commit2> are placed in files according to git-patch. THE FIRST COMMIT IS SKIPPED as it's in the pristine tarball. The filename is obtained from pristine-tar checkout

Walkthrough for Powertop

Find the upstream and clone it:

git clone git://github.com/fenrus75/powertop.git

git checkout -f v2.1.1
git pkg --manual --ver=2.1.1-1

At this point you have the packaging in rpm/ ... so:

cd rpm/

Edit yaml/spec/changes and create some packaging (we'll cheat and use philippe's):

curl -kOL https://github.com/philippedeswert/powertop/raw/pkg-mer/powertop.changes
curl -kOL https://github.com/philippedeswert/powertop/raw/pkg-mer/powertop.spec
curl -kOL https://github.com/philippedeswert/powertop/raw/pkg-mer/powertop.yaml

Describe in the _src file how OBS gets the source (in this case, use simple git archive to make a tar.bz2 based on the tag v2.1.1):

echo git:powertop-v2.1.1.tar.bz2:mer-2.1.1-1 > _src
git add powertop.* _src

Check to ensure it builds (be careful - if your target has extra packages you may miss build dependencies)

cd .. mb2 build

All good? commit:

git pkg commit -s
git commit -s

TODO

[ ] Improve hack-testing. ie incorporate uncommitted changes into a build

Notes

gitpkg uses Git orphan branches.

Sage asked if it was possible to just clone the packaging or source - it is but it's not trivial:

git init $PKG
cd $PKG
git remote add mer-tools ssh://$USER@review.merproject.org:29418/mer-tools/$PKG
sed -i '/fetch/s/\*/\pkg-mer/g' .git/config
git fetch mer-tools

• The tarball uses src/ as the location for git packages unless pristine-tar is in use